ORS Grouphttps://www.orsgroup.com.au
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 03:15:20 +0000en-AUhourly1ORS Welcomes Dr Geoffrey Waghorn – Senior Research and Innovation Consultanthttps://www.orsgroup.com.au/uncategorized/ors-welcomes-dr-geoffrey-waghorn-senior-research-innovation-consultant/
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 02:29:36 +0000https://www.orsgroup.com.au/?p=5322ORS would like to offer a very warm welcome to our new Senior Research and Innovation Consultant, Dr Geoffrey Waghorn. Geoff is heading up our research team to ensure ORS’ service delivery model across all services remains evidence based and incorporates the latest international evidence. Dr Waghorn has over 30 years of experience in vocational rehabilitation with a particular focus on severe mental illness. He has published over 100 articles …Read More

]]>ORS would like to offer a very warm welcome to our new Senior Research and Innovation Consultant, Dr Geoffrey Waghorn. Geoff is heading up our research team to ensure ORS’ service delivery model across all services remains evidence based and incorporates the latest international evidence.

Dr Waghorn has over 30 years of experience in vocational rehabilitation with a particular focus on severe mental illness. He has published over 100 articles in peer reviewed journals making him one of Australia’s leading researchers in vocational rehabilitation. He has previously worked on establishing the Individual Placement and Support model as the latest evidence-based practice for people with severe mental illnesses. He worked in partnership with ORS in 2016/2017 to assess whether this model can work within DES, and can generalise to participants with compulsory participation obligations.

Dr Geoffrey Waghorn

Dr Waghorn is currently working on several projects. One of these projects investigates the influence of wage subsidies on employment sustainability for DES participants. Another project examines what can be learned from the practices of high performing employment consultants, and how this information can be collected and used in training and staff development.

Great to have you as part of the team Geoff! We look forward to working with you.

]]>Employment Partnership for Students with a Disabilityhttps://www.orsgroup.com.au/news/employment-partnership-students-disability/
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 01:46:26 +0000https://www.orsgroup.com.au/?p=5264ORS have partnered with the University of Tasmania to provide on-campus employment services for students with disability (including mental health issues) This service is available to final year students and early graduates and provides one-to-one job search, job application preparation and employment support to ease the transition from University study into paid work. The UniSpecialist Employment Partnerships (USEP) are focused on graduate placements relevant to your area of study and career …Read More

]]>ORS have partnered with the University of Tasmania to provide on-campus employment services for students with disability (including mental health issues)

This service is available to final year students and early graduates and provides one-to-one job search, job application preparation and employment support to ease the transition from University study into paid work. The UniSpecialist Employment Partnerships (USEP) are focused on graduate placements relevant to your area of study and career goals.

ORS will be on-campus every Wednesday from 9am – 1pm. If you are a recent graduate with a disability, you can come and directly register with us at your nearest ORS office. We are also building relationships with government departments that offer graduate positions.

If you would like to know more information please speak to any of the career advisors or student support team. You can also contact ORS directly on 1800 000 677 and speak with either Simone McWilliams or Natarlya Sturtz

]]>AccessAbility Day – Opening New Opportunitieshttps://www.orsgroup.com.au/news/accessability-day-opening-new-opportunities/
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 01:21:04 +0000https://www.orsgroup.com.au/?p=5243With just over 15% of the national working age population identified as people with a disability, businesses on the NSW Central Coast are ready to open their doors to attract talented participants of all ages into their operations on AccessAbility Day 2017. AccessAbility Day is a new Australian Government initiative aimed at connecting employers and people with disability for a day. Businesses on the Central Coast can participate in …Read More

]]>With just over 15% of the national working age population identified as people with a disability, businesses on the NSW Central Coast are ready to open their doors to attract talented participants of all ages into their operations on AccessAbility Day 2017.

AccessAbility Day is a new Australian Government initiative aimed at connecting employers and people with disability for a day.

Businesses on the Central Coast can participate in AccessAbility any day from Monday 4 to Friday 8 December 2017.

Member for Robertson Lucy Wicks, MP, recently met with participants seeking new employment opportunities at McDonald’s West Gosford to talk about the 2017 launch of AccessAbility day. “This is an exciting new government initiative which provides business owners and managers a great opportunity to engage with a talent pool of capable people who are keen to work” Mrs Wicks said.

Arron Moss, Restaurant Manager of McDonald’s West Gosford said “We are proud of our staff and we are pleased to be able to promote an inclusive workplace”.

Quite some time ago, McDonald’s recognised the talent that is available to support their business. Now with the support of ORS Group, a local Disability Employment Service (DES) they are keen to learn more about working with people with disability, and allow participants to get a feel for working in their operations with the aim of building a better workforce for all.

This year the new initiative will run in conjunction with the United Nation’s International Day of People with Disability on 3 December. Placements of people with disability will be for one day during this week. The event is aimed at promoting inclusion and creating sustainable employment opportunities

]]>2017 AIM WA WestBusiness Pinnacle Award Finalisthttps://www.orsgroup.com.au/news/2017-aim-wa-westbusiness-pinnacle-award-finalist/
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 02:13:37 +0000https://www.orsgroup.com.au/?p=5217ORS Group’s HR Team have been named a finalist in the 2017 AIM WA WestBusiness Pinnacle Award for Human Resource Management Excellence This award provides recognition for an organisation that has achieved outstanding results through key initiatives that demonstrate leadership and commitment to excellence in human resource management. The Pinnacle Awards are WA’s most reputable business awards. Across eight categories distinction is awarded to the deserved. We are very proud …Read More

]]>ORS Group’s HR Team have been named a finalist in the 2017 AIM WA WestBusiness Pinnacle Award for Human Resource Management Excellence

This award provides recognition for an organisation that has achieved outstanding results through key initiatives that demonstrate leadership and commitment to excellence in human resource management. The Pinnacle Awards are WA’s most reputable business awards. Across eight categories distinction is awarded to the deserved.

We are very proud of our HR Team in Perth Head Office on demonstrating such skill and ingenuity in business leadership.

]]>2017 Best Practice Dayhttps://www.orsgroup.com.au/blog/2017-best-practice-day/
Wed, 27 Sep 2017 07:55:11 +0000https://www.orsgroup.com.au/?p=5199Every year ORS holds ‘Best Practice Days’ in each state for all staff members. The day is an opportunity for staff to; get together, listen to keynotes and discussions, learn more about the future of our services and award those within ORS who have went above and beyond to make a difference. To get an idea of what the day involves, one of our Site Managers kindly shared what went …Read More

]]>Every year ORS holds ‘Best Practice Days’ in each state for all staff members. The day is an opportunity for staff to; get together, listen to keynotes and discussions, learn more about the future of our services and award those within ORS who have went above and beyond to make a difference.

To get an idea of what the day involves, one of our Site Managers kindly shared what went on at this year’s VIC/TAS Best Practice Day…

All year I had heard that I would love our best practice day – it had a lot to live up to, and it did!

The Best Practice Day was an event for the Victorian and Tasmania sites together. It was a great chance to catch up like old mates but most importantly get an introduction for what the future holds for the company, for Disability Employment Services and hear from guest speakers.

A cultural beginning

Starting with an Acknowledgement to Country presentation – you get an instant feel for how serious ORS takes it’s inclusiveness, it’s respects and acknowledgement of all cultures.

We had a morning presentation from Ethical Jobs via Emily Markwell which provided great insight into careers that focus on social justice. Which was then followed up with the hotly anticipated presentation from Peter Scott – the head honcho! I’d heard great stories and being part of the ORS culture now for nearly 12 months, knew what he stood for – but it was important that I met him.

CEO speech

Peter’s speech wasn’t a typical presentation to talk about hype and morale and fluff – it was honest, it was open and still managed to be inspiring. Business talk can often feel mundane, but hearing Peter’s optimism and opportunities about the new DES Program coming in 2018 and giving us the power to take ownership of our sites to really shape our areas was encouraging. It is reassuring that we have the right teams in place to take us into a positive future, as the next 12 months will probably be some of the biggest in ORS history.

Speakers on disability employment

To follow was an update on best practice for dealing with larger suppliers from Craig Haywood at DWA. After a quick break, Toni Wren from AND spoke about dealing with Key Employers in terms of Disability and how to approach this task. How to open those doors that might not present so openly.

Rick Kane was up next with a chat about Disability employment. Rick is the CEO from Disability Employment Australia (DEA) and was one of the most inspiring speakers of the day. It wasn’t so much about what he spoke about which was the future of DES, but more about the impact we have and the power to create positive change in our areas of service. Rick just seemed like the kind of bloke you’d love to work with and was willing to get his hands dirty.

Keynote speaker

Jessica Smith – Paralympian, Mum, Mental Health Advocate.

Jess talks about her stellar career as a Paralympian, but it’s not littered with gold medals and glory – it’s the darker underbelly of what Paralympians are forced to deal with in terms of discrimination and bullying. She talks about the impact of being treated different despite being the best in her field. Her story spoke about how this impacted her mental health and her future body image issues. Imagine being the best of the best and feeling like you didn’t belong and that you were treated less than. What I liked about the story was that she was ok to talk about the downside rather than just focusing on the overcoming part of the story, talking about the realities.
These are the stories that really matter. These show that even when you are the greatest at what you do, you are not immune to mental health issues.

Of course her story has a happy ending, she is now a mother of one with another only weeks away, creating a super positive image for all fellow humans to follow.
Catching up with her afterwards, and grabbing a happy snap it was clear that despite probably delivering the speech hundreds of times – it still ran raw and that it still meant a lot to have others react in a positive way. She is a kick ass human!

Consulting group and psychology talks

After a quick bite it was back at it with our GM of our Consulting Group talking about some incredible initiatives nationwide and how they team are growing rapidly. It’s always great to see when you know someone is going to perform well in a job like Jon has done and then see the results presented and growing in a positive manner.

Then we had Dannielle, a Psychologist from Ignite Psychology. She jumped up on stage and said she was scared, nervous, worried about what she would say or how she would say it – yet through that was able to still present a stellar speech. The point of the exercise was to highlight how often we live in our minds thoughts and giving value to them rather than just letting them flow past us like water.

Homelessness in the community

In a day of highlights some of the best were saved for last. Lauren from The Big Issue spoke about the homelessness issue in Australia and in VIC. Big Issue allows those that are homeless to earn money from every issue sold and build on their job skills.
But it was Peter, a member of the Big Issue team who was homeless for many years. His delivery, wit, and scary realism really shot home how homelessness really is. He didn’t shy away from taking ownership, but pointed out that a few silly mistakes can lead to a lifetime of hardship. He has turned it around, works his backside off now and is delivering a great speech to raise awareness.

Awards Time

After our final break, we had a recap from our CEO on the days events and it was time for the State and National Awards. I love this as it shows who are the outstanding leaders in the company, because it means I know exactly who to talk to about bettering myself and my team.
I didn’t know however that I was to be a lucky recipient. Sometimes you have a sneaky suspicion you might be close but when they read my name, I was a stunned mullet.
Winning the VIC/TAS Rising Star of the year award was amazing. I’m not even going to try and play it cool or anything like that – I was doing cart wheels, double flips, handstands for the rest of the day and night… and following days. It comes with a level of expectation and responsibility that I cannot wait to try and live up to.

That’s a wrap!

And finally… it was time to wind down, have a few drinks with team Vic and Tassie, say g’day to new faces, catch up with old mates and share that positivity within the group. I’ve always said Employment Services feels like a big community, seems everyone knows everyone and for that reason it often feels like a big family. Team ORS is in good hands and I’m excited to be a part

]]>Homelessness Week 2017 – Connecting with local communities to help make a differencehttps://www.orsgroup.com.au/blog/homelessness-week-2017-connecting-local-communities-help-make-difference/
Mon, 14 Aug 2017 07:15:55 +0000https://www.orsgroup.com.au/?p=5162Written by Adam Phillips – Site Manager – ORS Group Rosebud VIC ‘’When working at ORS, it’s important to know about local services so that when someone presents with a question you yourself can’t solve, you have the appropriate resources in your community to assist. I’ve been going around Rosebud to meet all the amazing services in the local area. Everything from the Youth Services Team downstairs, SalvoCare, …Read More

‘’When working at ORS, it’s important to know about local services so that when someone presents with a question you yourself can’t solve, you have the appropriate resources in your community to assist.

I’ve been going around Rosebud to meet all the amazing services in the local area. Everything from the Youth Services Team downstairs, SalvoCare, Rosebud Community Centre, Centrelink through to the Royal District Nursing Service.

While creating these connections and meeting the incredible humans who run these services, I was invited to help out at the Southern Peninsula Laundry and Shower Service (SPLaSh). This program is setup to provide Showers, Laundry Services, a feed and a hot cuppa to those living on hard times, especially aimed at those that are homeless in the local area.

SPLaSh is setup to be an inviting area. There is a Nurse available for a chat and a range of support services, but most important it allows those that need it to do some laundry, have a shower and have a good hearty meal. Run by Sue from the Youth Services and Rosebud Community Centre for the past 8 months, I was blown away by their genuine care. Often coming out of their own pocket to fund, it’s an incredibly simple yet highly effective way of giving back to those in need.

What is devastating is the lack of funding it will get in the coming months. Rosebud is a beautiful town and a tourist hot spot in spring and summer. So sadly, the toilet block they operate from in October will be closed to them and open to the public.

So the program shuts down for up to 6 months. The team are working on alternatives, and I’ve put my hand up to help find a solution.

ORS collected 40 tins of food – that’s 40 people who will get a meal

Last week was Homelessness Week, and while it’s a problem we are all aware of, it’s not until you hear the stories and see firsthand, that you realise how devastating it is. I feel incredibly fortunate that I get to work with a company that is looking to help and provide services that in turn can help someone get back up on their feet. But more importantly, that we live in an area where people are starting to take notice and put their hand up to help.

You can too. Drop in to your local community centre to donate food, clothing or money – and genuinely, every little bit helps.

The team from the Peninsula gathered food to donate to #CanorCoin4HomelessnessWeek by Chelsea Care Works. Local supermarkets often have specials, and we were able to get cans of soup for $2.50, consider that $2.50 is a meal for someone. We can all make a difference.”

If you or someone you know is experiencing issues relating to Homelessness, head to the Homelessness Australia website where you can find various services for those in need. Or if you’d like to get involved, visit your local community centre to find out how you can help.